Floods kill 8 in Kenya

By STANDARD TEAM

A house collapsed at Myanga village in Bumula District, Busia County burying alive seven members of one family.

Moses Wanjala, his wife Mildred Nasimiyu and their six-month-old baby died on the spot.

And an eight-year-old boy was swept by raging waters of Chemogo River when returning home from school for lunch. A two-year-old girl died after she was also swept away by floods in Nambale District.

Area Councillor Jack Wambulwa said water entered into the room where the girl was sleeping while her parents were digging a trench to drain their homestead.

“She was sleeping on the mat on the floor and her parents were busy digging a channel unaware that the water had found its way into the house,” he said.

In Ruiru, residents of Murera village have decried delayed efforts to recover the body of a teacher who drowned last week.

And Thursday morning, the police retrieved bodies of three pupils who drowned two days before at Tendwet River in Konoin District.

The pupils drowned on Tuesday as they were going home for lunch following a heavy downpour.

In Gucha South, more than 600 people have been displaced from their homes following a mudslide. Their homes in Mochorwa, Nyasasa and Kiagware villages on the edges of a steep ridge were submerged in the mud.

Meanwhile, flood victims in Budalangi, Bunyala District have received blankets worth over Sh500,000 from Japanese nationals, through Japan Blankets for Africa Campaign.

— Report by Sammy Jakaa, Naftal Makori, Mary Kamande, Renson Buluma, Grace Wekesa, Edwin Makiche and Kenan Miruka